Aries Season! The Art of Renewal: Spiritual Growth and Purifying Shadow Work at the Spring Equinox


Happy Spring! Each Spring Equinox offers its own unique energy to mark the beginning of the return of warmth, life, and light. And while the hours of daylight and darkness may be equal, sometimes the energy of the moment may not feel quite as balanced as the hours. The astrological chart of the moment the Sun moved into Aries at 5:03 AM Eastern on March 20, 2025, ushered us into themes both light and dark for the duration of Spring. This Aries Season offers influences of spiritual growth, beauty, self-reflection, and also the opportunity for intense transformation. With intense transformation, balance is often hard won, but is absolutely the goal.

This year our initiation into re-burgeoning life is unhurried and the threshold between Winter and Spring may not feel entirely clear. This new season also arrives with an infusion of the potential for spiritual awareness and the desire to reach for the Divine. The Sun (our conscious awareness), newly in Aries, conjoins Neptune (divine inspiration, compassion, beauty) blurring the edges between Self and Other. Besides the spiritual, other ways of living through this Neptunian lens include exploring our artistic gifts, opening our imaginations, or offering something that inspires others. Still another way is to feel like hibernating in our internal fantasy for just a little while longer…

There are some fiery energies to tap into, with the Aries Sun, Venus and Mercury being in an easy conversation with the Moon in Sagittarius, which lends itself to an expansive and excitable emotional environment. But even this fire is more like firelight than a blaze of glory, since Mercury and Venus are both Retrograde in Aries. They are encouraging us to retreat to our internal world to analyze and evaluate our patterns of communicating with our loved ones. And they’re encouraging us to suss out whether our relationships support and uphold our values. If they don’t, these Retrograde planets beg the question: what are we going to do about it?

There’s also a very intense undercurrent to all of this via Pluto, who is at large in this year’s Spring Equinox energy. His transformative presence is felt through our relationships, the way we think and communicate (how’s your self-talk?) pulling at our deepest emotional yearnings. There are potentially obsessive leanings with this dark presence, further holding the normally straightforward fire of Aries in check. But the purpose with Pluto is to get to the truth and to purify those areas of our lives he’s touching. So as we evaluate ourselves, our thought patterns, the ways in which we communicate (including with ourselves), and our relational values, we must be honest about what we find. And then we must take the path of the Spring caterpillar. Without dissolving in her chrysalis, she’ll never become the glorious butterfly. So, this year, in order to meet Spring in right alignment, we must go into our depths before we fly joyously into the sunlight on the fragrant breeze of Spring. But when we do, we’ll have done a little purifying shadow work, and will feel even lighter and happier for having done it.

For those of you interested in diving into the astrology chart for the Spring Equinox 2025, here you go! If you have any questions about what you see, feel free to be in touch! astrology@michellegregg

Spring Equinox Chart drawn for March 20, 2025 at 5:03 AM Eastern Daylight Time from Decatur, GA, USA

The Spring Equinox and the Resurrection of Life

spring_garden-tulips-daffodils

The Wheel of Life continues its turning, and with this fleeting moment of equal day and night at the Spring Equinox, we are delivered into the freshness of being, the bursting forth of life, and resurrection from the darkness and cold of the Winter just past.

As the Sun continues his sacred, life-giving journey and enters the sign of Aries, he advances higher in the sky, increasing in heat and intensity. This annual enlightenment encourages the recently cold ground to warm, the plants to push their way above the newly verdant earth, to unfurl their tender, new leaves, soon to burst with flowers and seeds… everything swells with life once more. We in the Northern Hemisphere are reminded each March that the battle between darkness and light, lost each Winter and won each Summer, stands at a truce – even if only briefly. This Spring Equinox détente delivers both relief and a promise – that as the light strengthens and warmth returns to stir and embolden us, and the glistening hues and fragrances of nature enchant and astonish our senses, we know that the descent into darkness is always rewarded with the sojourn back up into the light… into life.

Yin-Yang-flora-fauna“Equinox” describes that moment of equality between the darkness on one side and the light on the other. This means that we must emerge from the darkness to go into the light – to be resurrected. This idea, this symbolism of the battle between dark and light, is the source of stories passed down since the dawn of time. We witness our connection to this eternal battle via great literature, and our most popular modern books and films. From a spiritual perspective, much religious mythology across the world and throughout time has also offerred stories of conquering darkkness. It is no coincidence that one of the most enduring religious stories, that of crucifixion, death, and resurrection (shared by numerous deities throughout religious history), is the one many embrace during Spring – the time of Easter (resurrection of Jesus), Ostara (return of life from death), Passover (resurrection from slavery), and Isra and Mi’raj (ascension of Muhammad). There is an inherent knowledge deep within us, that the cycle of life and the ceaseless journey of the Sun, will bring us back into life and light – eternally.

Each Spring Equinox offers its own unique energy to mark the beginning of the return of warmth, life, and light. The astrological chart of the moment the Sun moves into Aries at 12:17 PM Eastern on March 20, 2018, ushers us into and provides the “background” influences for the duration of the Season. This year our first thrust into re-burgeoning life is one of mastering the challenge between impatience and passion, with the wisdom of the natural timing of belonging, of acceptance, and of healing. Mars challenges us to push forward with our desires, while Saturn and Chiron make sure we do so with pragmatism, and the experience of the time-tested. Actually, the Serenity Prayer comes to mind with this Spring energy – renew and reinvigorate your life with the serenity to accept the things you can’t change, to have the courage to change the things you can, and to call on wisdom to know the difference.

Spring-Equinox-2018-astrology-chart

Chart for Spring Equinox 2018. Sun moved into Aries at 12:17 PM EDT.

To read all four of my Seasonal articles for the year across 2017/2018 please click below:

The Spring Equinox and the Resurrection of Life

The Summer Solstice and the Wisdom of Spiritual Action

The Autumn Equinox and the Moment of Balance

The Winter Solstice and Loving Responsibility